Twitter + Foursquare = Yelp R.I.P? Some brokerages have incorporated Yelp into their websites

Om Malik:

Om’s note: I wrote this long before the rumors about Google buying Yelp for $500 million started flying around. In my post from today that breaks down the Yelp-Google deal, I explain why it is a good move for Yelpers to take the money and run. I also say that it is a good move for Google in the short term. Over the long term, value of Yelp is limited.

The cold and damp December weather has taken hold here in San Francisco. It’s the kind of weather that forces you to stay indoors and hang out with friends — and find comfort in warm food. I typically don’t eat out thanks to some diet restrictions, but occasionally it’s good to break the rules. Like earlier this week, on the 8th birthday of GigaOM.

My friends and I settled on piping hot ramen noodles, but couldn’t agree on where to get them. In light of a conversation Liz and I had just had about how much she likes the tips she gets via online networks like Foursquare, I asked my Twitter followers to weigh in. The answers came back fast and furious, most of them pointing us to Katana-ya.

Some consultants have advocated the use of "free" services such as yelp to add website content. Nothing is free and it is important to understand how your strategy aligns with such "free" sites, if at all.

Related: The Profit & Peril of Mashups.